Qatar Airways avoids lawsuit over treatment of Australian women at Doha airport

Federal court dismisses case against airline but judge says five women can refile claims for damages against subsidiary Matar

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Qatar Airways has successfully dodged an Australian lawsuit over an incident at Doha airport in which women were forcibly removed from planes by armed guards and some intimately examined.

However, while the federal court dismissed the case against the airline, justice John Halley determined the five Australian women bringing the case could instead refile their claims for damages against Matar, a Qatar Airways-owned subsidiary engaged by the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA) to run Doha airport.